On Tuesday, March 13, 2012, the First District Appellate Court (the court that governs Cook County) issued a ruling that stated that a divorced attorney’s withdrawals from his retirement funds should not qualify as income for purposes of determining the amount of money he owes his ex-wife in maintenance.
The parties divorced in 2001 after 30 years of marriage. Under the divorce settlement, the husband was to pay $14,000 per month in maintenance to his ex-wife. In 2007, the husband filed a petition to terminate or decrease his maintenance obligation because his income decreases as a result of the merger of his firm with another firm.